The RNLI in Southend were busier than any other coastal lifeboat station around Britain and Ireland this summer.
Figures released by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) show the crews there were called out 71 times between June 1 and August 31 - a 40% rise on 2011 (where they had 51 call outs).
It also puts the station behind just two others in terms of the number of callouts and both were on the Thames in London - Tower, by Waterloo Bridge, launched 160 times, followed by Chiswick with 73 launches.
Dennis Freeman, from the RNLI in Southend, said the rise was largely down to the weather: "Although June was quite wet, July and August provided some quite good weather bringing people into Southend.
"We get a variation of callouts from engine problems on boats also people stuck in the mud. If you don't keep an eye on the tide, that will come in and cut you off."
Andrew Ashton, RNLI Divisional Inspector for the East, said: "Apart from a noticeable change for Southend and West Mersea, elsewhere in Essex the year-on-year changes were small, meaning it was pretty much business as usual for our volunteers.
"As ever, our brave volunteer crews remained committed to their pagers, heading out to sea to help others whenever the alarm was raised." He continued: "Summer 2012 was a rather mixed bag. On the one hand we're told that it was the wettest summer for 100 years in parts of the UK. But then reports also say that June, July and August were, technically, warmer than 2011.
"Perhaps people were forced to assess the weather and take last minute decisions on whether to visit the coast and go afloat. Either way, our crews did the RNLI and the general public proud by being available 24 hours a day, seven days a week."
Mr Freeman also had this advice to make sure you stay safe when visiting the beach: "The sea takes no prisoners and a lot of times you will only get one chance. You do need to know the state of the tides, keep an eye on the weather, the wind that will change and push a tide in quicker.
"Inflateables also cause us a problem. If you are going to use one make sure there's an onshore wind not an offshore wind."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qbHAq6tnm59jwqx7xKyqnrBfo7K4v46lppyZnGTAsMHToZynnF2XwrS1xKyrZpuflsC1rctmqaekmWLAta3ToqanZw%3D%3D